Video: Creative filters

For some images, you might want to push the limits of creativity and apply some Filter effects to the photo. Many of the artistic filters in Photoshop are only available for 8-bit-per-channel images. As a result, if you're going to produce a creative interpretation of a photo, you might want to make sure it's in the 8-bit-per-channel mode first. If you've been working to optimize the original image in the 16-bit-per-channel mode. What I recommend doing is to choose Image Duplicate from the menu. And then turn on the Duplicate Merged Layers Only check box, so that the result will be flattened. You can then click OK, and a duplicate will be created. You can then choose Image Mode and 8 Bits per Channel, in order to convert the image from 16 bits to 8 bits per channel.

Often photographers who want to learn to use Adobe Photoshop just dive in and figure out how to do what they need to do. This is all well and good, but with this approach you're likely to miss out on features that could help you, ways of working more efficiently, and an overall understanding of how Photoshop works. In this course Tim Grey takes you systematically through Photoshop's interface and tools, then shows you how to make basic adjustments and output your work for sharing. Whether you've been using Photoshop for a little while or you're just getting started, this workshop will make sure you always know where you are and where you're headed.

Creative filters

For some images, you might want to push the limits of creativity and apply some Filter effects to the photo. Many of the artistic filters in Photoshop are only available for 8-bit-per-channel images. As a result, if you're going to produce a creative interpretation of a photo, you might want to make sure it's in the 8-bit-per-channel mode first. If you've been working to optimize the original image in the 16-bit-per-channel mode. What I recommend doing is to choose Image Duplicate from the menu. And then turn on the Duplicate Merged Layers Only check box, so that the result will be flattened. You can then click OK, and a duplicate will be created. You can then choose Image Mode and 8 Bits per Channel, in order to convert the image from 16 bits to 8 bits per channel.

That image can then be used as the basis of your creative Filter effects. And you can save it as a separate file. In this case, I already have an 8 bit per channel image that I'm working with. So I don't need to create that duplicate copy, and I can dive right in to applying a creative effect. I'll start off by creating a copy of my background Image layer. I'll drag the thumbnail for the background layer to the Create New Layer button. The blank sheet of paper icon at the bottom of the Layers panel that will create a background copy layer. I'll go ahead and double-click the name for that layer, and I'm just going to type Filter effects, so that I know why this layer is there. In other words, it's not just a copy, it's a copy I created in order to apply some filtered effects.

I'll then go to the Filter menu, where you can find a wide variety of creative effects that you can apply to an image. But generally speaking, I'll use the filter gallery. In the filter gallery, we can apply a variety of different effects. And in fact, we can apply multiple effects to the same image. I'll go ahead and zoom out my image so that I can see the entirety of the photo. I'll click the pop up and choose the Fit in View option. And you can see now that I have some Filter effects applied to the image. Those happen to be glass and sprayed strokes.

I'm going to start off with a single option. So I'll click the Sprayed Strokes Filter effect and click the trashcan button, in order to remove that effect. With a single Filter effect applied, I can then navigate through the various options to find one that I think I might like. There are several sections, I can click the triangle to expand or collapse those sections, and then click on the thumbnail for any of the effects. In order to see what it looks like in the image. I'll go ahead and choose perhaps Accented edges, or Angled strokes, maybe Crosshatch.

You can see there are a variety of diffeerent options available. I thin in this case I'm going to use spatter, just because it creates a little more of a dramatic effect in the image. Once you've chosen a particular Filter effect you can then adjust the settings for that filter. So in this case I had a Spray Radius option, I can reduce or enlarge the size of the spray and I can adjust the smoothness of that spray as well. If I'd like, I can also add additional Filter effects. I'll go ahead and click the New button at the bottom of the list of Filter effects.

You'll notice that that creates a duplicate of the currently active Filter effect. And then, I can choose another option. So I can navigate through again all of the various options and see what seems to work best for my photo. I'll go ahead and expand the sketch section for example. And I can scroll through, and perhaps take a look at some of those options. As you can see, these are all predominantly black and white options, with the exception of water paper. I can also take a look at Stylize. Here we have the very interesting Glowing Edges option.

An I can continue deciding which filter or filters I'd like to apply, to my image. An then once again, adjust the settings for the Filter effect. Keeping in mind that at the moment I'm not looking very closely at the image. I might want to zoom in. A little more closely to get a better sense of the overall effect. I can then certainly turn off the visibility of any of the Filter effects if I so choose, or delete any of those Filter effects. But once I'm happy with the overall result, I can then simplify click OK. In order to apply that effect to the image.

Keep in mind that, because I'm working on a copy of my background Image layer. I can always get back to my original image if I change my mind. I can simply turn off the visibility of my Filter effects layer. I can also, with the the Filter effects layer turned on. Reduce the opacity if I want to allow some of that original image to show through. Toning down the effect of the filter. In this case though, I think the Filter effect is kind of fun. I'll leave that set to 100%. And maybe I'll make a print of this image.

There are currently no FAQs about Photoshop CS6 Quick Start for Photographers.

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